• This is the place to discuss all spicy commerical products, not just sauce!

Average Consumer Heat pref.

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

Munching some 'Flaming Hot' popcorn Cheetoh's.  Daughter likes the 'Flaming Hot' Cheetoh's.  Wondering as I look at all the so called 'Flaming Hot' consumer goods if there is a standard heat level for the average consumer of spicy food.

Obviously tastes will very with the consumer, but there seems to be a certain heat level that most large scale commercial products aim for.
 
Besides that, I think it greatly differs per region and ethnicity. South Californians and Texas would most likely prefer spicier food than people from the north east. Hispanics will eat more spicy food than caucasians (per average of course, some hispanics are wimps and caucasians can be fire breathers obviously). In my experience most people like just a little bit of heat as they are not used to anything. People might buy super hot sauce once but will be scared off from a 2nd buy. Superhots, extracts etc are a niche market but the general consumers will prefer jalapeño heat over what we call spicy.
 
Some terms that are used in Europe;
 
Extra spicy = jalapeño heat
Super ++++ hot = jalapeño heat
Extreme hot = jalapeño heat
Scorching hot = jalapeño heat
Tongue burning inferno heat = jalapeño heat
 
Yeah, I'll agree with watered down jalapeno statement as the standard for what most folks find hot in commercial products. Even products touted as being made with habanero or the over sensationalized "ghost pepper" type products are rarely even on par with a fresh jalapeno heat.
 
IMO, eat a bag of Andy Capps Hot Fries (which I admittedly love btw).  Anything hotter than that is "extreme" to most consumers.
 
I did a random selection survey at a "new employee" orientation when I started at my current job as part of the icebreaker task we had. We had to come up with a question and ask three people in the room of 50, writing the names, departments and the answers given.
I asked what people considered as being too hot with food. Everyone said they couldn't handle anything above habanero heat level.
I see it a bit flawed as there were no specifications on the concentration of the heat source and the type and serving size of the food under question.
 
TrueNorthReptiles - I take it you have sampled the mystery of the Poppy Chicken Ghost Pepper wings.  I dont eat meat, but have had friends say the mystery is where the ghost pepper is.

Scuba_Steve - I do tend to think that is the range because it is about where most of the so called 'flaming hot' snacks seem to be.  More than that though, there seems to be a 'flaming hot' flavor, not just a heat.  There are a couple tobacco products which taste differently, but it seems like most of the snakes labeled 'flaming hot' have the same sort of flavor to their spice.
 
"Average Consumer"?
 
In the general consumer market, it seems "gag" foods (in both senses of the word) for the serious heat lover are pathetic.
The Cheeto's have a niche, as do a few sauces.
 
But once you get your chile freak on, most seem to either make their own concotions or trade/buy from other hot heads.
 
I do tend to buy the newest retail offerings when found, but find most of them lacking.
 
Commercial Hot wings, Sirracha, and hoopa loopa poppers are about the average spicy food neophyte level.
 
IMHO, of course.
 
Hybrid Mode 01 said:
     If terms used for "spicy" commercial products were applied to my tastes, I believe they would fall somewhere between "obsane" and "retarded".
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funny you should say that !  been called that at work by some for eating the hots ,    :fireball:
 
The challenge with any sort of universal scale is that heat is a perception, and it's anything but universal. 
 
We all have different tolerance to start, and to complicate things more, eating more spicy food builds tolerance, while avoiding spicy food reduces tolerance. 
 
So you're aiming for a moving target that's more like a range. 
 
My heat ratings (Lucky Dog Hot Sauce) are all WAGs, and I over-state slightly.  Always better to call something a "8/10" and have it be a 7 than call it a 7/10 and have it be an 8 in my opinion. Consumers generally don't like to be surprised by something being hotter than expected, so I tend to err cautiously. 
 
Most think they're tough cookies if they eat Tobasco at about 2,500 SHU, which is less than most jalapenos (2500-8000 SHU).  With the salsa I  sell-
25% mild (zero heat...no hot peppers at all)
50% medium (3-4)
25% hot (6-7)
5% scorcher (8 plus....depending on how generous I get with the hab and/or 7 Pot powder   ;)  :halo: )
 
 
 
 
 
LDHS- I put a WAG on a generator proposal and the customer and architect were not amused!  I'd already given them about 8 version/revisions of the same thing and they still wanted another option.  So I threw a WAG at it and labeled it as such.  I wasn't expecting the contractor to hand over the proposal straight to the architect, who then handed it straight to the customer....   :banghead:
 
Lucky Dog - A moving target indeed.  I am getting to witness that first hand in my 10 year old daughter.  But they have hit some sense of a standard that remains on the shelves year after year.  Going to guess they found the widest middle ground that consumers pass threw.  Sure they have done lots of market research to figure out how to have the most customers.

You just made me think of another question: consistency.  I am fairly sure the huge conglomerates use the same blend of spice on all their 'flaming hot' and I am fairly sure the sourced pepper are fairly well standardized.  But the super hots tend to have a tremendous rang in heat.  Do you blend, taste, and adjust recipe so that you have a consistent taste?

How can a person make a consistent sauce when peppers can range by more than double the heat?

Salsa Lady, you should have put an S in front of your WAG.  That way it is all Scientific n stuff.
 
Ah yes - project WAG's you always overestimate. that way when it costs less you're the hero. :dance:

ajdrew said:
How can a person make a consistent sauce when peppers can range by more than double the heat?
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Well, there are a few ways to handle it. 
 
1. Pace - their solution, sickening as it may be, is to breed a special heatless jalapeno. They then add extract to their 3 heat levels of salsa and achieve absolute uniformity. It's a crime against humanity to put a heatless pepper into the world intentionally, but this is how they control what a "mild", "Med", and "Hot" are, in their definition. 
 
2. You can source from multiple vendors, and use pepper blends. You can also use fresh & dried peppers. I try to do this whenever possible. I'm sure my sauces fluctuate slightly, but I'm a flavor-forward guy anyway. I've had very good results using combinations of fresh & dried pods, and sourcing from different vendors for the same batch. E.g. if I get 3 batches of jalapenos from 3 different farms, the heat levels average out.
 
I love seeing heat scales on products. It's still subjective but at least it gives you a reference point and you have something to work off of within that vendors products. If product A was rated a 3 and was still mild to you then you know a 5 or 6 is probably what you want. 
 

 

 

 
The average person these days that says they love hot stuff probably doesn't venture past Tabasco or that hipster ketchup. 
 

 
 
D3monic said:
I love seeing heat scales on products. It's still subjective but at least it gives you a reference point and you have something to work off of within that vendors products. If product A was rated a 3 and was still mild to you then you know a 5 or 6 is probably what you want. 
 

 

 

 
The average person these days that says they love hot stuff probably doesn't venture past Tabasco or that hipster ketchup. 
 

 
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where the he!! did you find this idiot ? lmao !      :onfire:
 
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